


The Dawntreader

by minitorta



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Mentions of Blood, Slow Burn, Warnings May Change, held at knifepoint
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:41:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29053053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minitorta/pseuds/minitorta
Summary: The Mandalorian makes an unexpected acquaintance who possesses valuable knowledge about The Child.
Relationships: Din Djarin & Reader, Din Djarin/Reader, Din Djarin/You
Comments: 3
Kudos: 33





	1. Night in the City

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, this is my first Star Wars fic! I'm still new to Star Wars so I apologize if some things don't make sense in the universe (I'm trying also blame my bf I ask him for help lol). The plot is somewhat based on canon, picking up after season 1 but i will be excluding some major events that happen in season 2. I do plan on having more explicit content in later chapters, hence the warnings but for now its mature. In future chapters i will post a warning in the notes if there is explicit content! 
> 
> Pls point out any typos and feel free to leave critiques!

From the moment you walked in you knew the night was going to be dull. You had spent a good hour and a half preparing, makeup and hair, picking out a dress that complimented you, and shoes to go along. The preparation was always the most exciting part of these evenings. Well that, and whatever high-end liquor the host supplied.

As you entered, you immediately noticed the perfect shine of the floor, the sound that was made as your shoes touched the tile, and how it echoed loud and hollow. Looking down you could see the cream reflection of the many chandeliers that hung from the extravagant ceiling. _So fancy_ you thought. You weren’t used to this life yet; it had only been a few weeks since you decided you were finished barely surviving off the small salary the Xanqil gang compensated you.

But that life was in the , a friend of a friend back on Coruscant told you about the better options for young women in the galaxy. Escorting wealthy men to fancy balls, dinners, and art showings like the one you are currently at, pays handsomely so it seems. It was weird yes, mostly because many of the men were already married. But the idea was the prettier the girl, the more envious his opponents got. It was a game for them. 

It paid very well. You weren’t required to do that much actually, look presentable, smile and make small talk. Manage a few creepy advances from your companion and his friends, but nothing that made you too uncomfortable. These types of men weren’t just rich, they were wealthy, they had reputations to uphold, they wouldn’t risk losing all that for an employee. Just something pretty to look at and enjoy for an hour or two.

However, the last gentleman who hired you was an outlier. A surprisingly nice man, owned a racing group of fathier, you attended a race together several nights ago. After the race he gave you a necklace, the most expensive thing you now own, dozens of jewels that glittered effortlessly. _This would make a good down payment on an apartment in the city._ You thought.

Tonight’s companion, was less of a nice man, constantly boasting of his financial gains. The night began with the ride to the gallery, your escort, Sonwar, proud of his latest shipment of arms, order the most expensive bottle of champagne you’d ever seen. He was already tipsy when you arrived at the gallery.

The crowd was large, some up and coming artist only rich people would care about. You didn’t feel underdressed which was good, you only had three dresses to chose from and went with the fanciest for this evening. It was soft, long champagne fabric reached just above your feet. The sleeves hung just under your shoulders and although you felt chills from the air, you felt confident.

Sonwar’s hand rested on your back as you walked through the crowd, stopping to say hellos to people you didn’t know, and laugh at jokes you didn’t find funny. You noticed he was still drinking, passing a waiter and picking a skinny glass of clear liquid, drinking it in one swig. He would lead you to a painting, stare at it for thirty seconds before grunting and nodding moving to the next one.

 _Arrogant, drunk and boring_ you thought as you looked around, feeling alone in a crowd of jewels and silk. Something caught your eye as you looked up at the ceiling, a balcony above with blue velvet benches above the crowd. It was empty except for a figure seated in the corner, it was darker up there and hard to see but when you squinted you made out the figure of an armored man. He had a helmet covering his face, silver— no, not silver more valuable than that. Beskar? Only Mandalorians wore that metal, right? _Probably a bounty hunter._ You thought.

Whoever he was his helmet was facing your direction, the crowd was huge and everyone had their secrets, he could be here for anyone. _Not your problem_. You reminded yourself, not the time to get into trouble.

Still, out of curiosity and to prove yourself right, you tapped Sonwar’s shoulder,

“Is that, a Mandalorian up there?” you asked eyes still focused on the masked man’s visor.

Sonwar shook his head before addressing you, shaking off some of the alcohol before trying to focus his eyes where you were still looking.

“What was that? No dear, this gallery is secure there’s no way —.” He faltered and you turned to face him as you watched his eyes focus behind you on the man in the balcony. His eyes widened in disbelief, then fear.

“W-we need to g-go.” He stuttered and reached for your hand. Pulling your arm tight and dragging you passed a waiter; he sat his empty glass down and whispered into the waiter’s ear for your ride to be brought around.

You whipped your head around to the spot in the balcony where the Mandalorian was seated but, he was gone. 


	2. The Arrangement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More setup for the plot, more reader/mando dynamic to come!

Sonwar continued to pull you through the crowd, his grip moved from your hand to your elbow, he wasn’t running but walking fast enough you struggled to keep up in your shoes. If he was running from a Mandalorian this could be serious. You could be guilty by association for all you know. Fear started to overwhelm you. Mandalorian were not known for being understanding, if he caught Sonwar, he’d probably kill you to make things easier. You sped up and ran on your toes.

You rounded a corner of the gallery and could see large double doors at the end of the hall. The hallway was empty except for large potted plants the almost reached the ceiling. Sonwar sped up.

“We’re almost there, the car is outside.” He panted. “Come on stupid girl,” he barked at you and jerked your arm. “I’m not gonna die because you can’t keep up.” You stayed silent.

The situation was tense but it wasn’t your fault he was a criminal, still best-case scenario you make it out, and then what? Continue accompanying criminals to events like this? And keep getting chased by bounty hunters? This job might not be worth it, not if it costs you your life.

The door was about twenty feet away, when the Mandalorian calmly stepped out from behind a particularly leafy bush. He walked until he was in the center of the hall, a blaster already in his hand, pointed at Sonwar and yourself.

Sonwar came to a halt, his grip was like iron on your elbow. Your breaths deepened and panic started to set in. You had seen others killed by blasters and violence wasn’t uncommon but you had never been in danger like this before.

You tried to jerk away from Sonwar, to run away but he wouldn’t let you. The Mandalorian hadn’t spoken, he just stood silently as you and Sonwar’s breaths filled the hallway. Finally, a modulated voice broke the silence,

“There’s no where to run,” he said, “Hands up and I won’t shoot.” His voice was calm, this was his profession after all.

Part of you felt a little relived when he said he wouldn’t shoot. You moved your free arm and began to raise it above your head. But before you could Sonwar twisted the arm that he still held and forced it behind your back and pulled you in front of him. His chest was against your back and his grip was bruising. His dominant had reached in his dress pants pocket and pulled out something shiny. It made a click sound and a small blade revealed itself. He brought it to your neck and you jerked as the cold metal touched your skin.

Your fear worsened, and you couldn’t stop yourself from shaking. Mostly from fear but also anger, anger at yourself, at Sonwar, and even the Mandalorian.

“Drop the blaster or I’ll kill her.” Sonwar slurred, you could smell the liquor on his breath. He held you in place as he shifted back and forth on his feet. The Mandalorian didn’t move to put his blaster down but instead took a cautious step forward, causing Sonwar to press the blade deeper against your neck. You let out a small cry in pain as the knife drew a small amount of blood.

You hadn’t said anything at this point, it was too difficult for your brain to think, hell you could barely breathe. You looked at the Mandalorian who hadn’t moved since his previous advance, you focused your eyes on the black openings of the beskar and tried to pinpoint where his eyes would be.

“Please.” You asked looking at him, trying to reach what assumed to be a man underneath. Sonwar’s grip on your arm tightened and he jerked you back, surprisingly not digging the knife deeper into your skin.

“Quiet!” he yelled into your ear putting you even more on edge.

“Okay.” The Mandalorian said, drawing your attention away from the forming bruise on your arm. You watched as he held one hand up defensively, palm facing front, and began crouching to lower the blaster to the floor. He set it down carefully and stretched back up, both hands empty.

“Kick it over here.” Sonwar said. The Mandalorian complied and pushed the blaster across the floor to you and Sonwar, it stopped at your feet.

“Pick it up.” Sonwar said to you, slowly releasing his grip on your arm and moving the knife from your neck. He backed up a foot to allow you to bend down and grab the blaster. You felt chills all over and with your eyes focused on the bounty hunter before you, you crouched down and picked it up. It was warm, from the Mandalorians grip and the weapon felt foreign to you.

You had held blasters before but not with the safety off and ready to fire. It felt powerful, similar to the knife at your throat, it was deadly but more so. Killing someone with a knife took more gut, holding them close as you robbed them of their life. But a blaster was different, you didn’t have to touch someone to kill them, just point and pull the trigger.

“Give it to me.” Sonwar said sounding anxious. Standing up straight and still staring at his helmet the Mandalorian didn’t move. He was covered in armor but now his weapon was gone, at least his visible one. You had no doubt he could effortlessly break someone’s limbs. Even from a distance, he seemed bulky. How was this going to end? Sonwar with a blaster pointed at the Mandalorian as you walked past him to the shuttle outside? No way. You were confident the Mandalorian would finish his job, it was their reputation to not abandon a mission.

Still waiting for you to turn around and hand him the blaster, Sonwar shouted your name to draw you out of your thoughts. You were more shocked that he remembered your name than the volume of his yell.

You breathed in a gasp and whipped around to face him. Before he could step to grab the blaster, you closed your eyes and pulled the trigger. You heard the high-pitched sound of the shot and how Sonwar’s body hit the floor, a thump along with the clanging sound of the knife that had your blood on it.

You opened your eyes and froze for a second before letting out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding in. Your shoulders lowered but the blaster was still in position. Remembering where you were you turned around to the Mandalorian. His arms had dropped to his sides but he still stood a distance away.

“Did you need him alive?” You asked, realizing how this affected his job. You were in shock, shaking slightly at what had just happened.

“It didn’t matter.” He replied instantly like he was waiting for you to ask. He took a step towards you but stopped when you repositioned the blaster in your hand and pointed it at him. He was intimidating and was probably angry at you.

“Stop.” you said before swallowing, it sounded more like a question than a demand.

“Be careful who you point that thing at.” He warned, he sounded irritated.

“Are you going to kill me?” You asked, surprising yourself by not sounding as scared as you actually were. The Mandalorian didn’t respond but also didn’t move forward. You could feel him staring at you and suddenly you became self-conscious.

“No.” He responded after what felt like a lifetime. Slowly you lowered the blaster and stretched it out to him. He could be lying, but from the stories, you had heard Mandalorians follow their word.

He stepped closer and you felt small, he wasn’t giant but with his armor and the way he carried himself he could’ve been as tall as those imperial KX droids you remember seeing as a child.

He took the blaster from you hand without touching you and swiftly moved it to his belt. He stared at you, and you stared back for a few moments before darting your eyes to anywhere but his helmet.

“Why did you shoot him?” He asked, it almost sounded like a sigh. Still not looking at him you replied.

“He wasn’t a nice man.” You sounded like a kid with that simple logic but it was the simplest way you could comprehend what had happened. Sonwar wasn’t nice, he was arrogant and greedy, making money by exploiting people. But he didn’t deserve to die because of that. You shot him because he threatened you, caused you physical harm. It took all of two seconds for you to become a murderer but that wasn’t something you could to delve into right now.

The Mandalorian walked forward and went around you to Sonwar. You watched as he crouched down and placed two gloved fingers to his neck. Nodding he grabbed Sonwar’s limp body and pulled one of his arms over his shoulder, pressing the rest of his body to his side. The position was ironic, it was the same as how you would carry a wounded friend.

“What happens now?” You asked as the bounty hunter adjusted himself.

“I deliver his body to my employer.” He stated.

“Where?” you asked, genuinely curious but also thinking of yourself. He was silent for a moment, debating whether or not he should tell you. Eventually he answered,

“Navarro.” You had never heard of this planet, it was probably small and lacking security if bounty hunters brought their targets there.

“Take me with you.” You asked only sounding a little desperate.

“No.” he responded immediately and began to walk past you. Before he could you stepped out and blocked his path.

“Please,” you asked, “Sonwar’s absence will be noticed and I was the last person seen with him. They’ll arrest me and charge me for his disappearance.” It was true, you doubt anyone else had seen the Mandalorian and it would be easy to pin the crime on you. You wouldn’t be able to dispute it and not many people would believe a Mandalorian attended a busy art gallery unseen. There was the fact that technically you were the one who killed him, hopefully, the Mandalorian wouldn’t bring that up.

“Don’t care.” The Mandalorian replied and moved to step around you. You blocked his path again making him come to a halt. He was so close, maybe a foot away. You swallowed as he raised his shoulders in irritation. This was the only way you’d able to get away, you had to convince him.

“T-technically—,” You began before the Mandalorian slugged Sonwar’s body off his shoulder and let it drop to the floor. He crossed his arms as he spoke,

“Technically what?” he asked in a deep voice. You couldn’t be afraid you told yourself. This was your only chance. You straightened your shoulders and looked into his visor that hid his eyes. You cleared your throat and with all the fake confidence you could muster you answered,

“Technically I’m the one who apprehended your target, not you. Shouldn’t I be compensated for my actions?” You tried to sound convincing, in truth you didn’t want the reward. It was probably a large sum but you had enough to survive on some planet until you could find work.

“So this is about the reward.” It was phrased like a question but he made it sound like a statement.

“I don’t want the credits; I only want to get off this planet.” You offered in return. He didn’t move, arms still crossed looking over you. You started to feel self-conscious again but stopped yourself and forced a stare into his visor. He unfolded his arms and let out a sigh. You stepped back as he moved to pick Sonwar’s body back up. He started to walk past you and you didn’t get in front of him this time. When he was next to you, he stopped and spoke,

“My ship is about five kilometers northwest behind the gallery. Pack light and be there before sunrise, I won’t wait past then.” He kept walking to the doors. You turned and watched as he reached the door and pushed the door open.

“Wait!” You yelled and rushed towards him. He was definitely tired of you stopping him but this was important. You reached the Mandalorian and pointed to Sonwar’s body. You moved closer and reached in the dead man’s pocket to pull out a small silk sachet, it felt heavy which was good.

“There’s a driver waiting for us outside,” you explained, “I’ll pay him off and have him drive me home. Wait a few minutes before you walk outside or he’ll see you, there are sensors that can detect weapons a mile away.” You weren’t entirely sure that was true but one of your previous escorts had mentioned the sensors in his car so most likely Sonwar had them too.

The Mandalorian gave you a short nod and you pushed through the door. Walking to the shuttle you opened the back door. Immediately the driver asked,

“Where’s Sonwar?” He clearly took his job seriously. You began to lie,

“He’s waiting for another shuttle, he suspects someone’s targeting him and wants to throw them off.” The driver turned and raised an eyebrow at you. Quickly you continued, “He gave me this to give to you and asks you to take me home.” Raising the sachet of credits up to show him the driver's eyes widened subtly and he turned back.

“Yes ma’am.” The driver replied and the shuttle moved forward.

The ride was long which gave you time to reflect on the evening. You had killed a prolific figure who was also your employer, bribed your driver with stolen credits, and to top it off blackmailed a Mandalorian into helping you skip the planet. What a mess. At least you had a few hours before sunrise when you had to meet the Mandalorian. You shivered thinking about him. He was intimidating as fuck, the armor, weapons, and the helmet that hid his face, there was no way to tell what he was thinking. But he had helped you, even if you basically begged he had put his blaster down when Sonwar threatened you. You reached up to touch your neck where the knife had cut you, it didn’t hurt but you could feel the dried blood on your skin.

The shuttle came to a halt, you hadn’t realized you were already home. The driver wished you goodnight and you exited. Your apartment wasn’t nice, far from it actually. It was cheap and in a bad neighborhood but growing up on Coruscant had made you accustomed to the negative aspects of overpopulation. You didn’t have much, several sets of street clothes and your nice dresses and shoes for galas. You decided that career was over and put the dresses shoes and cheaper jewelry in a separate bag. There were dozens of pawn shops on your side of town, you’d pawn what you could for extra credits.

Narrowing down the rest of your belongings you had a decent sized duffle with toiletries, clothes including the expensive necklace gifted to you not long ago, and a small collection of books. The books were the heaviest thing but they were important to you.

Looking at your now emptied apartment you felt tears in your eyes but stopped them quickly, you didn’t have time to be sad. The Mandalorian was waiting and you didn’t have long. You’d make a few stops before getting a taxi to drop you a few kilometers from his ship and walk the rest of the way. Pulling a hood over your head and taking a deep breath, you stepped out into the damp air.


	3. Shadows and Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mandalorian recalls memories of his past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg im so bad at summaries im sorry. this chapter is from mandos pov, I actually had a lot of fun writing from his pov lmk if yall like it! i originally had more planned for this chapter but decided to split it in two. no real warnings besides mentions of prostitution and some sexual thoughts.. lmk if there are any typos and such!

The Mandalorian returned to the Razor Crest an hour after leaving the gallery. Upon arrival he placed the dead quarry in the Carbonite chamber and moved it onto the storage rack with the others. This was his last job before returning to Karga to collect payment, it was supposed to be an easy one, run in and grab some rich criminal, then head out. He hadn’t anticipated anything or anyone getting in his way. But that girl that accompanied his quarry made things complicated.

Pressing the control panel on the wall the door opened to the small cot where the kid stayed while he was away. The kid looked up at him and cooed, holding his hands up for attention.

“Okay kid, we’re gonna have an extra person on the ship soon. I don’t know if I can trust her, so stay quiet, don’t make any noise while she’s in the hull. I’ll keep her in the cockpit the majority of the time and come visit you when I can.” The Mandalorian explained to the child. It wasn’t a very good plan he admitted to himself. It would take a few days to reach Navarro, and he wasn’t sure he could keep the kid hidden for that long. The kid was getting more and more difficult for him to take of; trying to balance hunting bounties and taking care of a child was more than he could manage. He needed to return the kid to his kind, but the Mandalorian had no idea where to start. He had never seen a creature like him before and none of his contacts had either. Once the Mandalorian turned in his current batch of quarry and dropped off the girl he would begin his search, hopefully he would just get lucky on some planet and things would fall into place.

The Mandalorian gave the kid a ration bar and carried him up the ladder into the cockpit. He sat the kid in his pram and watched him eat the bar, took about all of 30 seconds for the little guy to gobble his food. They had a few hours till sunrise when the girl was expected to arrive. The Mandalorian leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, he wasn’t physically tired but his mind needed rest. Letting his eyes close he drifted asleep listening to the quiet snores of the kid who passed out after finishing his meal.

The Mandalorian rarely dreamed or at least rarely remembered his dreams, but tonight his mind wanted him to remember his first bounty.

He was young and didn’t have much experience with hunting actual quarries. He had practiced with the other foundlings growing up, they would take to the forest for weeks at a time and scavenge, hunting each other until the last person was standing. The Mandalorian was always good at this, winning almost every practice run he was able to outstand his peers with endurance and stealth. Despite this, he experienced several issues hunting his first bounty.

The first, was that his ship was garbage, when the Crest first came into his possession it was in bad shape. He got a good deal on in and decided to make the most of it, but the damn hyperdrive barely worked, the carbonite freezer wasn’t functioning, and the heating element was busted. Which was just the Mandalorian’s luck because his first bounty was on a freezing cold planet in the outer rim.

The second issue was the bounty itself. The puck gave little information, just a name and crimes no picture, barely anything to go off of. Thankfully he was given a tracking fob, if he could even make it to the blasted planet this would help.

What should’ve taken 4 days in hyperspace took 7, falling in and out of hyper while trying to make repairs to keep the ship functioning. The planet was fucking cold, ice everywhere, snow clouds hung in the atmosphere and the wind was strong. How someone could survive on this planet was beyond him. As the Crest descended into the atmosphere, the Mandalorian could see the surface, several metal huts and what he assumed were towns were scattered on the barren surface.

He landed a kilometer from one of the settlements and prepared himself for the cold. As the ramp to the hull lowered the tracking fob started beeping, he took a step down the ramp—

Several loud clangs woke the Mandalorian from his sleep, his eyes flashed open and he turned in his chair. He stood and saw the kid was still passed out snoring quietly. He closed the pram and pulled it down the stairs with him. He moved the pram into the cot and closed the door. Several more knocks came, they were louder in the hull and he heard a muffled voice call out.

“Hello!” He heard though the metal.

 _There’s no way she’s already here._ The Mandalorian thought to himself, it had only been an hour or so, there was still plenty of time until sunrise. He grumbled to himself and lowered the ramp to the ship, hoping it didn’t wake the kid. As the ramp lowered, he looked into the darkness of the early morning, the lights on the outside of the ship were off and the only light was coming from the moon.

The ramp reached the ground with a thud and sure enough there was the girl. She stood in the dark with a bag on her shoulder, staring up at the Mandalorian.

“H-hi Mr. Mandalorian.” She stuttered.

“Mando.” The Mandalorian replied instinctively, not using a name came with its annoyances, one of them being that people never knew how to address him.

“Huh?” The girl responded, tilting her head and scrunching her brows.

“You can call me Mando.” The modulated voice explained.

She nodded, “Mando.” she tested the name and gave her own. Mando nodded, he already knew her name, the quarry had called it out back in the gallery and it had never left his mind.

“Am I early? I’m sorry, I didn’t want to risk being late.” She questioned him and looked to the ground.

“It’s alright,” Mando sighed. Turing around to walk into the cargo hold, he motioned with his head for her to follow. Once they were inside, he closed the ramp and turned to face her. She had taken her hair out of its fancy style and removed her makeup, Mando thought she looked better this way, her skin was smooth and had a slight shine. She looked around the hull of the ship taking in her new location, when her gaze reached Mando she stiffened, like a child getting caught. They didn’t say anything for a moment and stared at each other, she was several feet away and in the dim light of the hull he could see her chest raise and fall. Finally, he spoke,

“You can set your bag down by those boxes, Navarro’s a few days away in hyperspace,” he explained, “There’s a copilot chair in the cockpit.” She nodded, understanding that’s where he wanted her stay She set her bag down. “I’m going up,” he gestured with his helmet to the ladder, “gonna start take off.” His sentence turned to a mumble as he climbed the ladder.

In the cockpit Mando began take off procedures, checking the fuel tank and warming the Crest up. After a few minutes he heard footsteps but didn’t turn around, he heard the girl sit in the co-pilot seat behind him. He couldn’t be sure if she was watching him but he was almost certain she was. Mando raised the wheel and the ship lifted into the air, he heard the girl let out a breath behind him. Raising into the atmosphere and eventually into space he proceeded to enter hyperspace and the quiet set in.

It was silent in the cockpit, Mando’s hands fell to his thighs and he tried to listen to the girl behind him but couldn’t hear anything. Several minutes passed before he could make himself turn around to look at her, her head was leaned against the headrest of her seat and her eyes were closed. Mando studied her face, her lashes touched the tops of her cheeks and her mouth was slightly parted.

 _Maker_ , Mando thought, what were people gonna say when he showed up to Navarro with _her._ Women who looked like _that_ didn’t live in the outer rim; it was almost cruel to take her there. She had proven she was brave; she had pointed his own blaster at him, but Mando wasn’t sure bravery would be enough to survive on the bounty hunter infested planet. He didn’t know anything about her, other than her name and what he assumed was her profession. If he was correct there would be work for her on Navarro, plenty of guild members stop on the planet after bringing back their quarries. Many of them had traveled for weeks and seeking the kind of relief only a woman could give.

Mando had seen them at night, women dressed in thin garments on the corners of dim alleys. They would give shy smiles at men walking by and offer themselves for the evening. In his younger years Mando had appreciated their charms and paid for their services, it was always quick, he didn’t know their names or speak to them as he let out his frustrations. He hadn’t been with a woman in many years, he was too busy and low on credits. And if he was being honest with himself, he wasn’t interested in quick fucks anymore. He had matured and wanted something more but he wasn’t sure what that was. His life was dangerous and having a partner would complicate things despite his loneliness he rejected the idea and didn’t dwell on it.

Still, he couldn’t stop his mind as his thoughts turned filthy. He imagined the girl dressed in thin robes, smiling at him and fluttering her lashes in the dark. Reaching out and taking his hand, leading him to her bed and undressing for him. Sitting on the bed and laying down reaching her arms up to him and pulling him into her embrace… _Stop_ , Mando told himself. He was getting himself worked up. He looked at the girl for a moment more before standing and climbing down the ladder. He needed to calm down, he walked into the refresher and gripped the sink. He stared into the mirror and saw his reflection, the beskar helmet stared back at him. He had been wearing the helmet so long it was hard for him to picture his real face. Mando brought his hands up to the helmet and pulled up, freeing his head and feeling the cold air hit his face. He studied himself in the mirror, his hair had gotten shaggy, and his facial hair had grown out. He brought a gloved hand to his face and traced the lines on his face, he hadn’t noticed how he had aged. Mando had gone for weeks not seeing his own face but right now he memorized every curve of the tanned flesh. Mandalorians were not individuals, they represented a larger idea and not showing one’s face or going by their own name was the most extreme form of collectivism.

Mando returned the helmet to his head and left the refresher, _This is The Way_ , he reminded himself. He opened the door to the cot and saw the child was asleep, not wanting to disturb him, Mando returned to the cockpit. The girl was still sleeping, Mando moved to sit in the pilot seat. As he walked past her his cape brushed her arm and she stirred. Mando turned his head to the girl, she let out a quiet hum and adjusted her sleeping form.

These next few days were going to be hard; she was so _tempting_. Mando frowned under the beskar and sat in the pilot chair. He needed to stop thinking about her. Crossing his arms and letting his chin tilt down, Mando closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep.


End file.
